Please use this sub-forum to discuss any non-fiction books such as autobiographies or political commentary books.

Forum rules
You must limit each topic thread in this section to only one book or only one series. Make the title of the topic the name of the book, and if possible also include the author's name. If you want to allow spoilers, you must include the word spoilers in the title of the topic, otherwise spoilers are prohibited.

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Kathleen's Cariole Ride" by Margaret Kell Virany.]

How does it feel to see life through the eyes of our ancestors?Primitive? Romantic ? Or down right sacred . For me a culmination of all three.

This is indeed an unusual love story, a tribute to innocent and pure love. There has been no dramatization of this love story, no passion forced yet the hard journey of two souls are depicted in their own words. Both the protagonists were from two different backgrounds. Kathleen Elizabeth was the daughter of the city councillor while Jack was a farmer from Cookstown, Ontario, Canada. Though he was a farmer’s son he signed up to open a Methodist teaching and preaching mission at God’s Lake. His main aim was to Evangelize the Aboriginals.Jack was no weakling and he had to go through many hardships in his daily life to bring some form of civilization in The Cree

Before Jack settled there the Aboriginals had gone through days of no light,tomahawks, rifles pots pans… the list can go on. In other words they were uncivilized. Civilization from the White man got them the basic necessities but the women folk were abused by the men too. Jack knew he had to set up an exemplary example to get their trust and love. He set up schools where he motivated the students and their parents to start learning. His school started with one kid and slowly it build up in strength to 21 kids. He started making a difference.

Kathleen on the other hand was in the medical school till her fiancé died. Then she had a nervous breakdown and started managing her family bakery. Though she liked Jack but she felt that she could not lead the hardships faced with that kind of life. So she refused to marry him when he asked her for the first time, much to the dismay of her family. But that starts a series of correspondence between them.

It is quite romantic the way Jack would wait for her letters. How much trouble he had to go through to get those letters. Maybe this story is not passionate in the telling sense but I found his actions in order to get the letters not only passionate but also emotional. It might be difficult to be a knight in shining armor but to love someone across the globe takes a lot of determination and loyalty. A rare combination in today’s world.[ That is cynical ole’ me… feel free to ignore]

How they eventually meet and marry and could Kathleen take the hardships of the journey are written beautifully in their diary which is beautifully presented by Margaret Kell Virany.

Rating:

4 out of 4 stars

Reasoning:

This is a very difficult piece to present to the world. It carries a part of your heart, raw in emotion and you cannot twist it in any way for it would take away the authenticity away from the raw emotions of Jack and Kathleen. It has been a pleasure to glimpse the world through their eyes. A rare treat for the modern generation indeed!